Looks like Buehrle's here to stay

Just days ago, it seemed Wednesday’s start might be Mark Buehrle’s final one as a member of the White Sox.

Now it looks as if Buehrle’s 5-3 win over Tampa Bay will be his final start before signing a contract extension with the Sox.

Numerous published reports and a source close to the team said the Sox have been in negotiations with the left-hander on a new deal.

The fact that assistant general manager Rick Hahn caught a flight to Tampa — where Buehrle and his agent, Jeff Berry, are — on Wednesday also lends more credence to the rumors, since Hahn is the Sox’s chief negotiator.

Though Buehrle and Berry both said there are no negotiations right now, an extension could be signed — and soon.
“I think everybody knows where my heart’s at, where I want to stay, how badly I want to stay,” Buehrle said. “So, if anybody has a question thinking I’m going to St. Louis after the season if I’m a free agent or if it gets to that point, they’re wrong. I want to stay here and do everything I can to stay here.”

WSCR-AM (670) reported that Buehrle is close to signing a four-year deal worth $50 million, with an option for a fifth year.

Buehrle would likely command more than a $12.5 million per-year contract on the market, but he has also repeatedly said he’d give the Sox a hometown discount.

“I guess I signed it,” Buehrle joked. “They must have drugged me last night and I signed it. I don’t remember putting my autograph on any piece of paper. Supposedly, I guess I’m here for another four years ...

“Until I get that tap on the shoulder that says you’ve been traded or we’re going to sign you or willing to negotiate, it’s all rumors to me.”

The rumors began with a report in Wednesday’s Chicago Sun-Times that Buehrle has been taken off the trade market and the two sides were negotiating on an extension.

That was news to Berry.
“There are no ongoing discussions,” Berry said Wednesday afternoon. “I don’t know what else to say other than there are no ongoing discussions. Maybe the White Sox are trying to gain the interest of other teams.”

Manager Ozzie Guillen was asked for his gut feeling on the future.
“I think he’s going to sign. That’s my hope, he's going to sign,” Guillen said. “But there are so many things in the middle. So many hard things in the middle. Hopefully, we sign him before we get to Chicago (on Monday). That’s everybody's hope. ...

“It’s not what I hear, it’s what I read. But the way both parties love each other, I think he will sign.”
Guillen even said that if the deal doesn’t happen before this seven-game road trip comes to an end Sunday, it might not happen at all.

“The more he waits, the more interesting it will be,” Guillen said. “A lot of people like to have Buehrle, but if it doesn’t happen today or before we get to Chicago, then he’s got a great chance to (go).”

General manager Ken Williams declined to comment.
In the midst of all of this, Buehrle (5-4) had a game to pitch.
The left-hander allowed a run in the third when he hit Carlos Pena with the bases loaded, another in the fourth on an RBI fielder’s choice squibber to first by Carl Crawford and another in the fifth on an sacrifice fly to center by Jonny Gomes.

The Sox bats, meanwhile, were held in check by Tampa Bay starter Andy Sonnanstine through six, but finally knocked him out in the seventh when three of their first four batters singled.

Alex Cintron’s RBI single off ex-Sox Gary Glover (3-3) made it 3-2, and Andy Gonzalez’s RBI single in the eighth tied it.

The Sox caught a break later that inning when the right side of the Devil Rays outfield lost Jim Thome’s fly ball in the ceiling at Tropicana Field for a single. Paul Konerko made them pay with the game-winning two-run double off Shawn Camp.

Yet, the Sox first three-game winning streak since May 20-22 — also the last time they had won a series until now — was overshadowed by Buehrle talk.

“It’s kind of funny seeing my name out there,” said Buehrle, who went seven innings. “Someone said me and Paris Hilton’s name have been in the paper the most the last week.”

More White Sox coverage can be found online at www.dailysouthtown.com/sports.

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